Ready or Not!

When we moved into our new neighborhood, our first conversation with our neighbors (who we really like) involved the phrase, "Wow. You have a lot of kids." I was a little surprised--to me, three kids is a small family. But we quickly realized that while the older families in the neighborhood often had 3-4 kids (a few had 5), the younger ones like us had 1-2. We happily accepted our roles as the ones with lots of kids who run around without shoes (or clothes, in Aaron's case), and as one of the only non-dual-income families. Unless you count me teaching piano. See? We are totally dual income. I can pay for TWO WEEKS of groceries with my piano money!

But now we figure it's time to go big or go home: we are officially crossing the fine line between a (barely) socially acceptable family of three and a "Don't you know how this happens by now?" family of four! 

I tried to keep it a secret for as long as I could. I was hoping to make it to 20 weeks, but when your calling involves parading around in front of people for two hours every week, people got lots of chances to watch my growing belly. My good friend called me out in the hall at church at 14 weeks, so I figured it was time.

Conveniently enough, my mom was going to be in town the week they wanted me to have a dating ultrasound. I lured her to the appointment with me, claiming I needed help with Aaron during a doctor's visit. She was a little suspicious since we were clearly NOT at a traditional office. I told her the truth as we were walking to the ultrasound room. 

The good news is that we have a perfectly healthy baby on the way. The better news is that this baby is due February 17th--the day before Catherine turns five. The best news is that it looks like Catherine will be getting a sister for her birthday! I thought I wanted this baby to be a boy, but I felt pretty early on that she would be a girl. And then I realized how excited I was to have another little girl in the house! Catherine is quite excited, too. She has proposed various names for the baby, including Emma, Elsa (of course), Luna, and (the most favored name) Catherine Again.

Little baby Catherine Again

Pregnancy #4 has been pretty standard. The morning sickness has lingered longer than usual, I've been more tired than usual, and my body is already feeling some aches. Guess I'm not 20 anymore! But so far the heartburn has been minimal (Aaron's pregnancy almost killed me--heartburn starting at 6 weeks and NEVER ENDING. The old wives' tale about heartburn and baby hair is clearly true). 

We are so excited to have this little girl join our family in February!